ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to appear before the agency today, Wednesday, in an investigation related to a diplomatic cypher that is at the heart of the ex-premier’s allegations that he was ousted from power in a foreign conspiracy.

Khan has been directed to appear before investigators at the FIA headquarters in Islamabad. A second notice has also been served to Qureshi to present himself before the agency. He was earlier asked to report to the FIA headquarters in Islamabad on November 1 but failed to appear.

“The FIA had launched an inquiry into the diplomatic cable – cypher following directions from a specially constituted committee of the federal cabinet to probe it as well as the audio leaks [from the prime minister’s office] which had taken the country by storm,” Samaa reported. “As part of its investigations, FIA officials have already questioned former foreign secretary Sohail Mehmood.”

In April, the Khan government handed an official protest to the US embassy over what it called Washington’s interference in the country’s affairs, referring to a diplomatic note from a Pakistani diplomat based on his meetings with US officials that Khan has said was evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust him from power.

Just weeks later, Khan was removed from office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence, which he blamed, and continues to blame, on a conspiracy hatched by the United States with Khan’s rivals in Pakistan, including current PM Shehbaz Sharif. Both deny the charge but Khan has held rallies across the country since, sticking to the theory of a foreign conspiracy and challenging the mandate of the Sharif government.

Khan is currently holding a protest march to the capital to pressure the government to announce snap polls.